Untitled - the Digital Library of Georgia

GEORGIA AND GBOEGIANS 405
bama, in Statuary Hall, Washington, District of Columbia. Lincoln
was also the home of Thomas W. Murray, a noted legislator. Judge
Longstreet drew one of his best known sketches in "Georgia Scenes"
from what he called "the Dark Corner of Lincoln," a descriptive phrase
which has persisted down to the present time but which no section of the
county is bold enough to claim.
When James Jackson relinquished his seat in the United States
Senate to fight the Yazooists, Governor Mathews named as his successor
the revered George Walton. One of the signers of the Declaration of
Independence, he had twice served the state as governor and once as
chief-justice. He had also been a member of the great convention of
1787 called to frame the Federal Constitution. Governor Walton was a
federalist. His appointment by Governor Mathews under a temporary
commission and his defeat by Josiah Tattnall before the Legislature, in
1796, leave little doubt upon this point.
Georgia in 1796 gave her four electoral votes to Thomas Jefferson
for President and to George Clinton, of New York, for vice-president.
Her electors chosen by the Legislature were: James Jackson and Charles
Abercrombie, from the state at large; and John King and Seaborn
Jones from the congressional districts.* At- this time, the President and
vice president were chosen as follows: each state was required to vote
for two candidates, a rule under which the candidate receiving the high
est vote was declared to be elected President and the one receiving the
next highest vote, vice president.
Until 1799, Georgia's two senators were James Gunn and Josiah
Tattnall. The former was succeeded in 1799 by Abraham Baldwin and
the latter in 1801 by James Jackson, who -after holding the office of gov
ernor resumed the toga. Mr. Baldwin became president pro tern of the
Senate. Though a Yazooist, Senator Gunn retained his toga until 1801,
when he retired from public life after a continuous service of twelve
years in the Upper House of Congress. But his connection with the
Yazoo sale has denied him any large place in Georgia's history. Before
entering the Senate, Mr. Baldwin had served for ten years in the House.
Elected to the First Congress in 1789, he relinquished a seat in the Fifth
Congress to become a senator in the Sixth. His colleague from 1795 to
1799 in the House was John Milledge.
To the Sixth Congress, which began on March 4, 1799, James Jones
and Benjamin Taliaferro were commissioned as Georgia's two repre
sentatives. The former served for only one term. The latter was re-
elected but resigned during his second term and was succeeded in 1802
by David Meriwether. John Milledge, who was again elected to Congress
at this time, resigned before his term expired to become governor of
Georgia and was succeeded in 1802 by Peter Early. Thus, in the Seventh
Congress, Georgia, while allotted only two seats, was served by four mem
bers, each for a fractional term.f
* "Lanman's Biographical Annals of the United States Government," pp. 513-514.
t '' Biog. Gong. Directory, 1774-1911,'' p. 51.